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Centennial Sermons 






LEXII^GTO:^' 



CEI^TE\t(!AL SERMONS 



DELIVERED IN THE 



FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 



LEXINGTON, MASS., 



April 11th, 18th, and 25th, 1875, 



BY THE PASTOE, 



Rev. HENRY Vs^-ESTCOTT. 



BOSTON : 

Printed by Frank Wood, 352 Washington St. 
1875. 



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A SERMON 

DELIVERED APRIL 11, 1875 



As the day which marks the close of a century since 
the beginning of the American Revolution approaches, 
no small amount of interest centres in the village of 
Lexington, which witnessed the opening scene of that 
war. Years ago, when, as school children, in some 
other town or State, many of us read the account of 
• the "Battle of Lexington," it was with the resolution 
that, at some future day, our feet should stand upon the 
ground made sacred by the first blood shed in defence 
of American liberty. And now, when the day that 
many will choose on which to keep such resolutions is 
so near, let us glance hastily at the Old Lexington of 
pre-revolutionary times, and consider some of the 
causes which have made the name of our village 
familiar to every citizen of this country. 

The feeling of interest which turns the thoughts of 
so many persons hither at the present time is not on 
account of any great battle, or of any superiority of 
the men who stood upon Lexington Green, waiting the 
approach of British soldiers. The "battle" was only 
a skirmish; and, had Gen. Gage sent his troops in any 
other direction, they would have found as brave men 
in every town as they found here. But Lexington 
Green happened to be the place where the British troops 



first met Americans in arms, drawn up for the express 
purpose of forcibly resisting, if possible, their move- 
ment of hostility. American blood had been shed as 
early as 1770, in Boston; and British blood had been 
shed in 1772, at the burning of the schooner Gaspee, 
in Narragansett Bay ; and in other places blood had 
been shed previous to April 19, 1775. But in all these 
cases, the shedding of blood was occasioned by acts of 
annoyance on the part of the British, rather than by 
any act -of direct hostility. Here, however, the 
British troops were on their wa}' to strike a blow at 
the pr(3paration which this colony was making for the 
conflict that was thought to be unavoidable. And the 
company on Lexington Green was, as Frothingham, in 
his " Siege of Boston," says, ""a part of 'the constitu- 
tional army,' which was authorized to make a regular 
and forcible resistance to any open hostility by the 
British troops ; and it was for this purpose that this 
gallant and devoted band on this memorable morning 
appeared on the field. Whether it ought to maintain 
its ground, or whether it ought to retreat, would depend 
upon the bearing and numbers of the regulars." Here 
the troops sent over to deprive these colonics of their 
liberties first came in conflict with a part of that army 
which had been raised to sustain those liberties. On 
account of the disproportion in numbers, the further 
march of the British was not prevented ; but enough 
was done to awaken the spirit of resistance in the 
neighboring towns, and, indeed, in all the colonies. 
This is what gives, to-day, an interest in the name of 
Lexington. 

The territory now included in the town of Lexington, 



previous to the year lU-S, formed a part of Cambridge, 
and was generally known as " Cambridge Farms.'' As 
it lay at some distance from tlio settlement of Cam- 
bridge, the land was taken up and built upon very 
slowly. For a long time, there was no central place of 
settlement. Here and there, as some adventurer found 
a tract of land to his liking, a house was built, and a 
home begun. In 1682, when the number of families 
had reached about thirty, the inconvenience of going 
from jfive to ten miles to the place of worship was felt 
to be so great that the people of this district petitioned 
the General Court to be set off' as a distinct parish. On 
account of the opposition of the people of Cambridge, 
this was not effected until the year 1691, when the 
place was called North Cambridge. Immediately, the 
inhabitants made arrangements for building a meeting- 
house and securing a preacher. The meeting-house 
was built in 1692, and, for a time. Rev, Benjamin Esta- 
brook was engaged from year to year to preach. In 
1696, after providing him with a house, and arranging 
for a salary of forty-five pounds, they ventured to give 
him a call, which he accepted, being ordained in October 
of that year. Mr. Estabrook graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in the year 1690, and was a young man of much 
promise, but he lived less than a year after his ordina- 
tion. 

The next minister was Rev. John Hancock, a graduate 
of Harvard College, who was settled in 1698. He was 
the grandfiither of John Hancock, of Revolutionary 
fame ; and he remained pastor of the church for fifty- 
five years. 

Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, son of Rev. John Hancock, 



was settled as colleague with his father in 1*134, and 
died in 1740. 

The inhabitants of this part of Cambridge in the early- 
part of tiie eighteenth century had increased to such an 
extent, that they petitioned the General Court to be in- 
corporated as a town, which petition was granted in 
the year 1713, the town taking the name of Lexington. 
As more than a score of cities, counties and towns in 
the United States have since received this name, it is a 
matter of interest to know where the name came from. 
The name, undoubtedly, came from Lord Lexington, of 
England, who was a noted man at the time of the incor- 
poration of the town ; and was also a relation of Joseph 
Dudley, who was then Governor of the Province. 

During the first half century which succeeded the 
incorporation of Lexington, the energies of the people 
were mainly devoted to the improvement of the town. 
Schoolhouses were built, schools were established, the 
support of the ministry was provided for, roads were 
opened, and many other things were attended to, which 
were required by a well-regulated and prosperous com- 
munity. Some of the duties to which they attended 
seem strange to us, although they were regarded as im- 
portant at that time. They appointed a committee to 
seat the families in the meeting-house according to age, 
dignity and wealth, — a duty which must have been very 
difficult to perform satisfactorily to all concerned. Tliey 
appointed tythingmon to look after the children during 
and between the religious services on Sunday, — a task 
which could not have been a verj' easy one. Persons 
liable to become a public cliarge they warned out of 
town. In 1739, the town voted that representatives to 



the Great and General Court should serve for six shil- 
lings a day ; and in 1151 , it was voted that all money 
received by the representatives over three shillings a 
day, should be paid into the town treasury. 

Kev. Mr. Hancock died in the 3'ear 1752, and his 
funeral was something of public interest, so that the 
town made an appropriation to meet the expenses, and 
appointed a committee to take charge of the services. 
In 1761, the bell which gave the alarm on the morning 
of Api'il 19, 1775, was presented to the town by Isaac 
Stone. 

Although the citizens were devoted to the interests 
of the town, they were not backward in the support of 
the wars with the French and Indians. Whether the 
war was in the West Indies, or before Quebec or 
Louisburg, there were found representatives from this 
town. It was in such service as this, that the men of 
Lexington, and those of many other towns, learned the 
art of war, which they practised at a later period. It 
was by fighting by the side of British troops that they 
gained the courage to fight when opposed to them. 

In 1755, Rev. Jonas Clark was ordained as the min- 
ister of the Lexington Church. Mr. Clark was a 
graduate of Harvard College, and he married a grand- 
daughter of his predecessor. Rev. John Hancock. In 
the controversy between Great Britain and the Ameri- 
can Colonies, which soon came to be the most important 
subject of thought, Mr. Clark took the greatest interest. 
As the controversy increased, Mr. Clark took a very 
active part in the proceedings of the town relating to 
that question. Most of the resolutions adopted by the 
citizens of the town expressing their views on the sub- 



joct of the controversy were prepared by him. Edward 
Everett said of those documents, "They have few equals, 
and no superiors, among- the productions of that class." 
Weiss, in his life of Theodore Parker, says of Mr. Clark: 
" He was more dangerous than all the militar}^ stores 
at Concord or in the Colony, and had so infected the 
whole district with his calm and deep indig-nation. x'aat, 
when the regulars came marching up the old turnpike 
in the gray dawn of the 19th of April, after powder and 
flour, they found all the farmers converted to a doctrine 
of liberty which armed and provisioned a young nation 
for seven years of war." 

I do not propose to discuss the causes of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, but only to state the more immediate 
measures on the part of Great Britain and the Colonies 
which led to the conflict. In 1*1*14, the British Parlia- 
ment enacted laws by which certain officers, hitherto 
chosen by the people, or representatives of the people, 
in Massachusetts, were to be chosen by the king and 
by the governor ; and also forbidding all town meet- 
ings, except tlie annual ones, and all other public meet- 
ings, to be held, unless with the consent of the gover- 
nor. This was virtually reducing the inhabitants of 
the Colony to the condition of slaves. And it was the 
attempt to enforce such laws, that led, by a direct path, 
to an open conflict between the troops of Great Britain 
and the Colonists. A meeting of delegates from the 
Committees of Correspondence was held in Boston, 
August 26 and 21, 1714. These delegates declared 
that the inhabitants of the Colony "were entitled to 
life, liberty, and the means of sustenance, by the grace 
of Heaven and without the king's leave ;" and resolved 



that the officers who had been chosen according to the 
late act of Parliament ought to be resisted, that the 
military art ought attentively to be practised b}'^ the 
people, and that a " Provincial Congress is necessary 
for concerting and executing an eflectual plan for coun- 
teracting the systems of despotism, and that each 
county will act wisely by choosing members as soon 
as may be for said congress, and by resolutely execut- 
ing its measures when recommended." This was the 
first suggestion of a Provincial Congress ; and the coun- 
ties immediately began to act upon it by holding conven- 
tions, which advised the towns to choose delegates to 
such a body, and also passed determined and spirited 
resolutions. 

September 1st, ITH, Gen. Gage summoned the 
General Court to meet at Salem on October 5th. On 
the 28th of September, he issued a proclamation ex- 
cusing and discharging all who had been chosen repre- 
sentatives, and declaring his intention not to meet them. 
The reasons for this act were, "the many tumults and 
disorders which had taken place, the extraordinary 
resolves which had been passed in many of the coun- 
ties, the instructions given by the town of Boston, and 
some other towns, to their representatives, and the dis- 
ordered and unhappy state of the province." As a 
specimen of the spirit of those resolves which had in- 
timidated the Governor, the Middlesex County Con- 
vention said : "If, in support of our rights, we are 
called upon to encounter death, we are yet undaunted, 
sensible that he can never die too soon, who lays down 
his life in support of the laws and liberties of his coun- 
try." As a specimen of the instructions given by the 



10 

towns to their repvesentatives, Lexington instructed 
her representative, Jonas Stone, to " use liis utmost in- 
fluence that nothing- be transacted as a court under the 
new council, or in conformity to any of the late acts of 
Parliament." 

Notwithstanding the proclamation of Gen. Gage, 
nearly a hundred of the representatives met at Salem, 
October 5, and waited two days for the appearance of the 
Governor, who did not come. They therefore resolved 
themselves into a Provincial Congress, to be joined by 
such others as had been or should be chosen. The 
object of that Congress, as stated at the time, was : to 
" take into consideration the dangerous and alarming 
situation of public affairs in this province, and to con- 
sult and determine on such measures as they shall judge 
will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty, 
and the peace, welfare, and prosperity of the province." 

The organization of this Provincial Congress was 
certainly the boldest step which had yet been taken. 
By such an organization, the inhabitants of this colony 
were resisting British authority, and were falling 
back upon the natural rights of man, just as truly as 
they were when they took up arms to resist British 
troops. The men who dared to sit in that Congress 
showed themselves as true heroes as did the men who 
shcjuldered their muskets and hastened to Lexington 
and Concord on tlie morning of the nineteenth of the 
following April. It is not strange, therefore, that 
Joseph Warren wrote to a friend about the members of 
that body : " You would have thought j^ourself in an 
assembly of Spartans, or ancient Romans, had you been 



11 

a witness to the ardor which inspired those who spoke 
xipon the important business they were transacting." 

The proceedings of this Congress are of the utmost 
importance to every one who would understand the 
cause of the open acts of hostility which took place in 
the following spring. It was the work of this Congress 
and of the Committee of Safety which it appointed, that 
provoked Gen. Gage to send his troops on the expedi- 
tion to Lexington and Concord ; and it was the work 
of this Congress and Committee that the inhabitants of 
this part of the province were prepared to meet those 
troops. 

The Provincial Congress, aftc organizing at Salem, 
Oct. *7, adjourned to meet at Concord, Oct. 11. The 
Congress met at Concord, according to adjournment, 
and held there a session of four days. It adjourned 
Friday, Oct. 14, to meet at Cambridge on the following 
Monday, at which place all the remaining sessions of 
this first Provincial Congress were held. The second 
Provincial Congress also held its first session in Cam- 
bridge ; but on March 22, 1115, it met at Concord, 
where it continued in session till April 15. At the 
four days' session of the first Provincial Congress held 
at Concord, two important measures were adopted: an 
address to Governor Gage, which contained an account 
of the distresses, oppressions, and grievances to which 
the people were subjected, and a request that the Gov- 
ernor would desist from any further warlike prepara- 
tions. The other important measure was the advising 
of the constables, collectors, and sheriffs not to pay 
any moneys in their hands to the treasurer of the prov- 



12 

ince, but to retain the same until farther advice from the 
Provincial Cong-ress. 

Among the important measures adopted by the first 
and second Cong-ress while in session at Cambridge 
were the following : to purchase 20 field pieces, 4 mor- 
tars, 20 tons grape and round shot, 10 tons bomb shells, 
5 tons lead balls, 1000 barrels of powder, 5000 arms 
and bayonets, and 75,000 flints; the appointment of a 
Committee of Safety, whose duties were to observe 
every attempt to invade or annoy the province, and, if 
necessary, to call out the militia; the people were urged 
to complete the organization of the military companies, 
to have them perfected in military discipline, and a part 
of them ready to march at the shortest notice. 

"We think," said the Provincial Congress, "that 
particular care should be taken by the towns and dis- 
tricts in this colony, that each of the minute-men, not 
already provided therewith, should be immediately 
equipped with an eflFective fire-arm, bayonet, pouch, 
knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls, and that 
they be disciplined three times a week, and oftener as 
opportunity may offer." Besides this, the ministers of 
the colony were asked by Congress to advise their con- 
gregations to adhere strictly to the resolutions of the 
Continental (Congress. The church at Cambridge in 
which the Provincial Congress held its sessions when 
these and many other important measures which led to 
the beginning of open hostilities were adopted, no 
longer stands. Were it standing, there would be no 
other buikling in this country to which pilgrimages 
would more readily be made by citizens of the United 
States. 



13 

When we remember that the measures and resolutions 
which were adopted by the Provincial Congress, were sup. 
plemented by the earnest action of the Committees of Safe- 
ty and Supplies in procuring field-pieces, muskets, balls, 
cartridges, powder, bayonets, tents, provisions, and med- 
icines — every thing that an army in actual service could 
possibly require — and concealing them at Concord and 
Worcester, we can understand something of the -feelings 
with which our forefathers passed tlirough those months 
during which the Provincial Congress was in session. 
Everywhere in the province was seen a preparation for 
war. But probably nowhere was there more interest 
taken in that preparation than in the towns which were 
in the neighborhood of Cambridge, where the Provin- 
cial Congress was in session, and Boston, where the Brit- 
ish troops were quartered. In the records of every town 
are found the evidences of this interest. If we look in the 
records of this town, we find the citizens during those 
months holding frequent town meetings, and voting to 
provide flints, and bayonets, and drums, and all other 
things necessary for a forcible resistance of British 
troops. As a year previous to this time, they had re- 
solved that " we trust in God, that should the state of 
our affairs require it, we shall be ready to sacrifice 
our estates and everything dear in life, yea, and life 
itself, in support of the common cause," so at the time 
we are considering, they were making active prepara- 
tions to fulfil their promise to sustain the common cause, 
which they then saw clearly must be done, with the 
sacrifice of their lives. We are so accustomed to 
dwell upon the events of the nineteenth of April, 1115, 
that we fail to realize the anxiety in which the few 



14 

months previous to that time were passed by the in- 
habitants of this town. With what eagerness must 
they have looked for each measure adopted by the 
Provincial Congress, and with what anxiety must they 
have heard of every movement of the troops at Boston. 
As the winter wore away with the increasing certainty 
of the approaching conflict, and as the spring opened 
with the Provincial Congress meeting in March, at 
Concord, to perfect the work of preparation which it 
had previously laid out ; as the days passed by, 
with the conflict apparently so near that men were 
appointed to watch closely every movement of the 
British, there must have been many anxious hearts 
within this town. Nearly every family had one or 
more of its members enrolled in the military company 
of the town ; and for many nights husbands, and wives, 
and children, and fathers, and mothers, must have fallen 
asleep, expecting, before morning, to hear the alarm 
rung out from the belfry on the Green. At last, the 
alarm was heard. About one o'clock, on the morning 
of tlie loth (jf April, IITS, the inhabitants of Lexing- 
ton who dwelt along the road leading to Boston heard 
the clattering of a horse's hoofs. It was the horse of 
Paul Revere, who was hastening with a message from 
Joscpli Warren, to Samuel Adams and John Hancock, 
who were passing the night with Rev. Jonas Clark, 
that a large body of the King's troops were embarked 
in boats from Boston, and that it was suspected they 
were ordered to destroy the stores at Concord. Soon 
the bell sounded the alarm, and by two o'clock, nearly 
all the members of Capt. Parker's company answered 
to their names, as the roll was called upon the Green 



15 

If it be asked, For what did these men meet upon the 
Green? the answer is given by Rev. Mr. Clark, in 
his narrative of the events of that day. It was " not 
with any design of commencing hostilities upon the 
King's troops, but to consult what might be done for 
our own and the people's safety : And also to be ready 
for whatever service Providence might call us out to 
upon this alarming occasion, in case overt acts of 
violence or open hostilities should be committed." 
And he further says: "From a most intimate acquaint 
ance with the sentiments of the inhabitants of this 
town then collected in arms, I think I may boldly 
assert that it was then knoion determination not to com- 
mence hostilities upon the king's troops ; though they 
were equally determined to stand by tlieir rights to the 
last." Capt. Parker's company remained upon the 
Green about an hour, when, hearing nothing of the 
regulars, the company was dismissed, with orders to 
appear immediately at the beat of the drum. Some of 
the members, whose homes were near, retired thither, 
while the greater part went into Buckman's tavern^ 
which stood on the opposite side of the road, 

I wish we had the tales of that wayside inn ; that we 
knew of what those men talked while they awaited the 
roll of the drum which should call them again into line. 
They were subjects of George III., yet they were sup- 
plied with powder and balls, and had their muskets 
loaded, in expectation of the coming of the king's 
troops. Although all the inhabitants of the colony had 
been looking forward to this, their position — the king's 
subjects in arms against the king's troops — was a 
strange one, and it must have seemed so to them. 



16 

Doubtless they discussed the last measures of the Pro- 
vincial Cong-rcss, of the Committee of Safety, of the 
Committee of Supplies, the latest news about the Brit- 
ish in Boston, the prospect of a war and its probable 
results, and the object of the militar}'- expedition which 
they had been called out to watch, and^ if possible, 
oppose. No doubt there were as patriotic sentiments 
uttered in that wayside inn on that night as had been 
heard in the churches at Cambridge and Concord from 
members of the Provincial Congress. Doubtless they 
strengthened each other's hearts with assertions of their 
readiness to meet the troops of the king, and with 
determined resolutions that George III., Lord North, 
and the Parliament should be taught a lesson long to be 
remembered. If the Avails of that building could only 
speak and tell what occurred during that hour when 
those " village Hampdens " sat and talked in the light 
of the cheerful fire, the story would be one of the most 
interesting relics to be shown on the coming anni- 
versary. 

But their conversation and discussions were suddenly 
interrupted by the roll of the drum and the alarm gun. 
Grasping their muskets, and taking one look at them 
to see if they were ready for resistance, should it be 
necessary, they hastened from the house, and to the 
Green. There, while they were forming in line, — be- 
fore the line was completely formed, — the British 
troops made their appearance between the meeting- 
house and the tavern. Captain Parker ordered every 
man to stand his ground, but not to fire uidess fired 
upon. Pitcairn, the commanding ofliccr of the British, 
shouted to the Minute-men, " Lay down your arms and 



17 

disperse, you rebels!" and then immediately ordered 
his troops to " Fire ! " at the same time firing his own 
pistol. The British fired, first over the heads of the 
Minute-men ; but at the second command, they fired and 
killed and wounded a number of the Americans. See- 
ing his men outnumbered, Parker ordered them to dis- 
perse. But before obeying that order, some of the 
company returned the fire, and others, while dispers- 
ing, did the same. The British continued pursuing 
and firing, until all who were alive had escaped. Then 
the troops gave three huzzas, and proceeded towards 
Concord, leaving eight Americans killed, and nine 
wounded, and having had two or three of their men 
wounded. Such is an account of the fight or skirmish 
at Lexington, on the morning of April 19, 17t5, as ac- 
cepted by all historians. 

The news of what had been done reached Concord 
before the British did. The neighboring towns also 
had been alarmed, and men from Acton and Lin- 
coln stood with those of Concord to offer further resist- 
ance. While a part of the British troops were engaged 
in searching for and destroying stores, a detachment 
left to guard the North bridge fired upon the Ameri- 
cans, who outnumbered the British, three to one. They 
returned the fire, killing one and wounding a number 
of the regulars. The British that were at North 
bridge retreated towards the centre of the town, and 
joined the main body of their troops ; and soon the 
whole body began that retreat which proved so disas- 
ti'ous to them, all the way from Concord, through Lex- 
ington and Arlington, to Charlestown. 

In regard to what took place on Lexington Green in 



18 

the morning', attempts have been made within the past 
fifty years to raise a question, whether or no the min- 
ute-men retui-ned the fire of the British troops. But 
there never was any such question to be raised. There 
is no more doubt that the minute-men on Lexington 
Green returned the fire of the Britisli, than there is 
that the minute men were on the Green. The testimony 
which conflicts with this statement was not such, either 
in amount or character, as caused the shadow of a doubt 
in the minds of the members of the Provincial Con- 
gress that the fire of the British was returned. The 
narrative of the events of April 19, ordered by the 
Provincial Congress to be published in the following 
month, implies that the fire was returned by the 
Americans, in the statement, that the British " first 
began the hostile scene, by firing on this small party, 
by which they killed eight men on the spot, and 
wounded several others, before any guns were fired 
upon the troops by our men." In the proclamation of the 
Provincial Congress of June 16, 17T5, it is expressly 
stated that the fire of the British was returned. " The 
fire was returned by some of the survivors," are the 
words employed. Gordon, who visited Lexington and 
Concord a few days after the battle, ascertained, both 
from the Americans and from British prisoners, that 
the minute-men did return the fire. Rev. Jonas 
Clark, of Lexington, in his naiTative of the events of 
the day, says : " Very few of our people fired at all ; and 
even they did not fire till, after being fired upon by the 
troops, they were wounded themselves, or saw others 
killed or wounded by them, and looked upon it next to 
impossible for them to escape." This is what the 



19 

earliest authorities say ; and it has been accepted by all 
historians from that time to this ; the last historian, 
Higginson, whose book was published only a few weeks 
ago, saying distinctly: " The Americans fired in return." 
And I am not aware that there was ever any pretence 
of a doubt about this, till half a century had passed 
away. There is no fact concerning the whole American 
Revolution which has much better authentication than 
the fact that on Lexington Green began that resistance 
to British troops which was continued at Concord, 
which was continued all the way from Concord to 
Charlestown, which was continued at Bunker Hill, 
which was continued till 1783, when the British troops 
were driven from Amei'ican soil, and the liberties of 
the American colonies were secured. 

It is true that the firing by the minute-men on Lexing- 
ton Green was not done in obedience to any command 
of Capt. Parker. Individual soldiers fired upon their 
own responsibility. But I am not aware that that circum- 
stance detracts from the significance or importance of 
the firing. There was very little firing by the Americans 
on that day that was done in obedience to the com- 
mands of officers. It was done by individuals behind trees, 
fences and walls. If the firing of the Americans on 
Lexington Green was not of much importance, then 
there was very little firing of importance done on that 
day, and the approaching celebration of the centennial 
anniversary of that day can be scai'cely anything more 
than a farce. 

It may be asked, What was gained by the resistance 
made on Lexington Green ? A few men died a glorious 
death, but the expedition of the British was detained 



20 

only about half an hour. What advantage was gained 
by the Colonies from the death of the men whose dust 
reposes under yonder monument ? Some defeats effect 
more than some victories. The battle of Bunker Hill was 
not a victory for the Americans ; yet no one will deny 
that it exerted a great influence in favor of the Ameri- 
cans. It must be remembered that the organization of 
the Minute-men throughout this Colony was for the pur- 
pose of resisting any open acts of hostility on the part of 
the British. While the Colonists were determined not to 
be the aggressors, they were equally determined to op- 
pose every open act of British hostility. Word came 
to Lexington that the British troops had left Boston 
that evening, evidently with hostile intentions. Samuel 
Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Jonas Clark- 
were right when they decided that it was the duty of 
the Minute-men of Lexingtou to be preoared for any 
service that might be required. It was no uncertain 
sound that came from that belfry on the Green. It said 
plainly that, if the British meant war, it might begin 
here. 

On the monument at Thevmopylfe, which marked 
the spot where a few Greeks allowed themselves to be 
sacrificed by the overwhelming hosts of the Persian in- 
vader, the poet wrote the words : — 

" Strangor, the tidings to the Spartan tell, 
That here, obeying their eommands, we fell." 

It was the same message that went forth on that 
morning of April 19, 1775, from this field of blood, to 
the inhabitants of this Colony. Obeying the commands 
of the people of this Colony, as expressed by their Con- 



21 

gress, those meu fell on Lexington Green. And had 
there been no further resistance on that day, their blood 
would have been enough to summon the people of this 
and all the other Colonies to arms, and to drive those 
who were worse than invaders from the land Truly 
said Jonas Clark, "The innocent blood of our brethren 
was the cement of the Union, and seal of the freedom 
of these American States ! All America heard the 
alarm, deeply felt the wound, and bravely rose to re- 
venge their brethren's blood, and join the common 
cause." 

-It should not be our endeavor, at this time, to exalt 
our town on account of what was done here a century 
ago. They of that time said, " Not unto us, Lord, 
but unto thee bo the glory ; " and in this let us follow 
their example. Let us be content with the position 
which history accords to the heroes of that morning, 
and to the soil on which they fell. Bancroft says of 
the men who fell at that time, " These are the village 
heroes, who were more than of noble blood, proving by 
their spirit that they were of a race divine. They gave 
their lives in testimony to the rights of mankind, be- 
queathing to their country an assur&,nce of success in 
the mighty struggle which they began. Their names 
are held in grateful remembrance, and the expanding 
millions of their countrymen renew and multiply their 
praise from generation to generation." Of these men 
Everett said : " To the end of time, the soil whereon 
ye fell is holy ; and shall be trod with revei-ence, while 
America has a name among the nations." And of the 
citizens of Lexington he said, " On their soil, and on 
that day, commenced the dread appeal to arms, long 



22 

anticipated, though loyally deprecated by the friends 
of American liberty. On that day, and on their soil, 
commenced the struggle in which so much hardship 
was endured, and so much precious blood was shed, 
and which, by the blessing of Providence, was con- 
ducted by the Heaven-appointed chieftain to its auspi- 
cious result." But whatever may be said of those men, 
or of the ground on which they fell, let us remember 
that it was not for the glory of this town that they 
died. As we consider the spirit by which they were 
inspired, the names of men and towns sink out of sight 
in the noble cause in which they were engaged. Let 
us not look back to that day saying, " What a day for 
the glory of Lexington ! " but " What a glorious day 
for America! " 



23 



A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 18th, 18t5. 



PSALM xxxm. 12. 
"blessed is the nation whose god is the lord." 

Before the Pilgrims and the Puritans set their feet 
upon the shores of New England, they expressed their 
purpose in coming hither, in a way which assures us 
that they intended to found a nation whose God 
should be the Lord. In the cabin of the " Mayflower," 
the Pilgrims signed a compact, a part of which is : 
" We, whose names are underwritten, having undei'- 
taken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the 
Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a 
voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts 
of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and 
mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, 
covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil 
body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, 
and furtherance of the ends aforesaid." During the 
voyage of the ship " Arbella," which brought over the 
Puritans, Gov. Winthrop wrote a treatise, in which he 
stated that the work they had in hand was, " by a mutual 
consent, through a special, over-ruling Providence, and 
a more than an ordinary approbation of the churches 
of Christ, to seek out a place of cohabitation and con- 
sortship under a due form of government, both civil 



24 

and ecclesiastical." Both colonies attempted to carry 
tliis theory of government into practice, the Puritans 
making- the right of franchise dependent upon church- 
membership. It was by them " ordered and agreed, 
that, for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to 
the freedom of this body politic but such as are members 
of some of the churches within the limits of the same." 
And in order that this should not be evaded by the or- 
ganization of churches which were churches only in 
name, it was ordered by the General Court that it " doth 
not, nor will hereafter, approve of any such companies 
of men as shall henceforth join in any pretended way of 
church-fellowship, without they shall first acquaint the 
magistrates and the ciders of the greater part of the 
churches in this jurisdiction with their intentions, and 
have their approbation therein. And further, it is ordered, 
that no person being a member of any church which shall 
hereafter be gathered without the approbation of the 
magistrates and the greater part of the said churches, 
shall be admitted to the freedom of this Common- 
wealth." As Palfrey says : " They established a kind 
of aristocracy hitherto unknown. Not birth, nor 
wealth, nor learning, nor skill in war, was to confer 
political power ; but personal character, — goodness of 
the highest type, — goodness of that purity and force 
which only the faith of Jesus Christ is competent to 
create." I do not propose to discuss the question 
whether such theories of government as these, or such 
legislation, were or were not wise. But I bring these 
facts forward to show the spirit with which our fore- 
fathers came to this country, and also the spirit with 
which they worked in building up a nation. They 



25 

believed that they were as truly called to go out from 
England to a land that God would show them, as did 
Abraham that he was called to go out from his country. 
They as firmly believed that they were building up a 
nation in this country, whose God was the Lord, as 
did the descendants of Abraham in the land of Palestine. 
If we sometimes think that this feeling was too strong 
for the good of the aborigines, we must remember also, 
that without some such feeling as this they would not 
have braved all the danger and sufferings that they did 
in order to build up a nation. And the same belief, 
that in some way God was the Lord and the Protector 
of this people, was not extinguished with the generation 
which came to these shores. Their children and their 
children's children received such a belief for their in- 
heritance. Eeligion was the spirit and the life of these 
colonies, flowing into the trunk and branches. Not 
only did the nation have its root in religion, and its 
trunk supported by it, but every branch which pushed 
out into the wilderness bore on it the bud which was 
to unfold into a church. Thus it was in the settlement 
of Lexington, then called Cambridge Farms. Houses 
were built, scattered here and there, the inhabitants 
going to the settlement at Cambridge to worship. But 
as soon as the number of families was large enough to 
make a church of themselves, there was a petition to 
be considered as a distinct parish. It was the church 
idea, the need of worship, which first suggested the 
thought of separation from the parent town of Cam- 
bridge. And when, in the middle of the eighteenth 
century, the controversy with Great Britain arose, and 
the dark war-cloud loomed up above the eastern horizon, 



26 

the people of these colonies, — of the New England 
colonies especially, — believed that the controversy was 
one in which the Supreme Ruler had an interest ; and if 
it were to be decided by an appeal to arms, they might 
place their reliance upon that God who was the Lord of 
the nation. For this reason, the questions at issue 
were discussed over and over again in the pulpits of the 
land. If there was to be a war, it would be a religious 
war, as truly as were the wars of Joshua. And thus 
church and state were united. Election sermons were 
printed, and circulated as political tracts. The fire of 
patriotism which burned so brightly in the hearts of the 
people was kindled by a coal from the altar of God. 
Headley says : " The teachings of the pulpit of Lexing- 
ton caused the first blow to be struck for American In- 
dependence." But the blows which were struck for 
American Independence would have been far fewer and 
far feebler, had it not been for patriotic teachers in most 
of the pulpits of these colonies. 

In December, 1774, when the Boston Port Bill was in 
operation, and when the prospect for the approaching 
winter was very dark, the Provincial Congress appealed 
to the ministers to aid in the common cause. " In a 
day like this," they said, " when all the friends of civil 
and religious liberty ax-e exerting themselves to deliver 
this country from its present calamities, we cannot but 
place great hope in an order of men who have ever 
distinguished themselves in their country's cause ; and 
do thereby recommend to the ministers of the gospel 
in the several towns and other places in this colony, 
that they assist us in avoiding that dreadful slavery 
with which we are now threatened, by advising the 



21 

people of their several congregations, as they wish 
their prosperity'', to abide by, and strictly adhere to, 
the resolutions of the Continental Congress." And to 
the inhabitants of this colony, the Provincial Con- 
gress could say : " Let nothing unbecoming our charac- 
ter as Americans, as citizens and Christians, be justly 
chargeable to us. Whoever considers the number of 
brave men inhabiting North America, will know that a 
general attention to military discipline must so establish 
their rights and liberties, as under God to render it 
impossible to destroy them." Thus did the Provincial 
Congress, the very first political body created solely 
by the inhabitants of this colony, acknowledge their 
obligations as Christians, and their dependence upon 
God. 

If we look at the election sermons delivered a few years 
before the commencement of hostilities, we shall find the 
doctrine of resistance to tyranny very plainly stated. 
In 1111, Rev. John Tucker, of Newbury, preached the 
election sermon before Gov. Hutchinson, the Council 
and House of Representatives, in which he said : 
" Proper submission in a free state is a medium between 
slavish subjection to arbitrary claims of Rulers, on one 
hand, and a Itiwless license on the other. It is obedience 
in subjects to all orders of government which are con- 
sistent with their constitutional rights and privileges. 
So much submission is due, and to be readily yielded 
by every subject ; and beyond this, it cannot be justly 
demanded, because Rulers and people are equally 
bound by the fundamental laws of the constitution." 
Here was the doctrine on which the colonists based their 
right of resistance, promulgated from the pulpit four 



28 

years before the Eevolution. In UTS, Rev. Charles 
Turner, in the Election Sermon, said : " When the civil 
rights of a country receive a shock, it may justly ren- 
der the ministers of God deeply thoughtful for the safety 
of sacred privileges — for religious liberty is so blended 
with civil, tliat if one falls it is not to be expected that 
the other will continue." In 1174, when matters 
seemed to be drawing to a crisis, the preacher of the 
Election sermon. Rev. Gad Hitchcock, of Pembroke, 
spoke in still bolder words from the text, " When the 
righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when 
the wicked bear rule the people mourn." " Our danger 
is not visionary, but real ; our contention is not about 
trifles, but about liberty and property, and not ours 
only, but those of posterity to the latest generation. If 
I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and exe- 
cuting, subversive of our natural and chartered rights 
and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of 
liberty, all America is mistaken with me. Our con- 
tinued complaints, our repeated humble, but fruitless, 
unregarded petitions and remonstrances, and if I may 
be allowed the sacred allusion, our groanings that can- 
not be uttered, are at once indications of our sufferings, 
and the feeling sense we have of them. L'et the Gov- 
ernor in his chair of state hear it : we not only mourn, 
but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all 
because the wicked rule. The castle cannot shelter liim 
from that scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided, 
brother is arrayed against brother, friend against friend. 
Society is cut from its moorings, and hate and conster- 
nation reign on every side, and all because the ivicked 
bear rule. King George may say the evils that produce 



29 

this state of things are imaginary; but I tell you, and I 
tell the tyrant to his face, it is because the wicked hear 
rule.'' When such sermons as these were preached, it 
is not surprising that the Governor, in 1774, refused to 
appoint a fast : " For the request," he said, " was only 
to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the 
pulpit." On account of the sulferings of the Boston 
people in the year 1774, occasioned by the enforcement 
of the Port Bill, the ministers of Connecticut wrote to 
the ministers of Boston: "The taking away of civil 
liberty will involve the ruin of religious liberty also. 
Bear your heavy load with Christian fortitude and reso- 
lution." From the Boston ministers Avent back the an- 
swer : " While we complain to Heaven and earth of the 
cruel oppression we are under, we ascribe righteous- 
ness to God. The surprising union of the colonies affords 
encouragement. It is an inexhaustible source of com- 
fort that the Lord omnipotent reigneth." Thus there 
was in the minds of the people, underneath the thought 
of independence, the thought that the spirit of the 
church and the state are one ; that religious liberty and 
civil liberty must stand or fall together. If the inhabit- 
ants of these colonies believed they had the right to 
stand up for their liberties, it was because they regarded 
those liberties as the gift of God, of which not even 
kings or any earthly authorities had the right to de- 
prive them. 

It is impossible for the inhabitants of this town to 
think of the union of religion and government, without 
having their thoughts turn to the man who, one hundred 
years ago, was pastor of this church and society, the 
Rev. Jonas Clark. There is no other name connected 



30 

with Lexington that better deserves honorable mention, 
at this centennial anniversary, than his. And here 
to-day, among the members of this religious society, of 
which he was once the pastor, all our thoughts of him 
must be tinged with a peculiar feeling of reverence. 
There is only one thing that we can see which remains 
to-day to recall his name and memory. The old 
chui'ch in which he preached is gone. Of those who 
formed his congregation, none remain. Only this Bible 
remains. It was presented to this society by Gov. 
John Hancock, in the year 1T93, and during the last 
twelve years of the life of Mr. Clark, it was used by 
him in the religious services of the society. His hands 
have turned over its leaves. His voice has been heard 
speaking words of sacred wisdom as his eyes rested 
upon its pages. It is a precious relic. 

But, if there were nothing outward remaining to 
remind us of him, still his name could not possibly be 
forgotten on such an occasion as this, nor the spirit of 
the man be remembered without the utmost reverence. 
Mr. Clark was pastor of this society during a period of 
fifty years and ten days, having been ordained Novem- 
ber 5, 1155, and having died November 15, 1805. 
Had nothing unusual occurred in this colony during 
those fifty years, Mr. Clark Avould have been remem- 
bered as an earnest preacher, a devoted pastor, and a 
man of " strong sense and sound judgment." "His 
public discourses," it is said, " consisted not of learned 
discussions on speculative or metaphysical subjects, 
nor yet of dry lectures on heathen morality, but of the 
most interesting truths of the gospel, well arranged for 
the edification of his hearers. And they were delivered 



31 

not in a formal, heartless manner, but with uncommon 
energy and zeal." But, living as he did during a pecu- 
liar period, requiring peculiar talents, he showed himself 
equal to the emergency. Church and state were united 
in him. He was not only a minister but a statesman. 
Probably no one understood the questions at issue be- 
tween the colonies and the mother country better than 
he. And his people received the benefit of his states- 
manship, not only in their town meetings, but from the 
pulpit. " Enough of his discourses," says a descend- 
ant of his, *'have been preserved to make it plain 
what, on a thousand occasions long before even the 
passage of the Stamp Act, would have been the strain 
of his thought and of his speech ; so that, when the 
struggle actually commenced, the people were ready 
for it, thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which 
the duty of resistance was founded, and prepared to 
discharge the duty at every hazard. No single individ- 
ual probably did so much to educate the people up to 
that point of intelligence, firmness and courage, as their 
honored and beloved pastor." In one of his sei'mons, 
Mr. Clark thus illustrated the necessity of religion to 
government: "In civilized nations, and where civil 
government hath been established, many cities and 
places of importance may be found without walls, with- 
out guards, and even without weapons or any prepara- 
tions for common defence. But it is not easy to find 
any without a temple, an altar, a grove, or some other 
place appointed and appropriated to the purpose of 
religion, the acknowledgment of Heaven, and the wor- 
ship of the Deity, in some shape or other." It is well 
known that Mr. Clark di-ew up most of the important 



32 

political papers and resolutions, in regard to the great 
question at issue, which were adopted by the town of 
Lexington. There can be no doubt that the men 
who assembled on Lexington Green, on the morning of 
April 19th, 1715, were there to make a practical appli- 
cation of the doctrine which they had heard enforced 
in the church. Robert Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel 
Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Isaac Muzzy, Caleb 
Harrington, and John Brown, who were slain on that 
morning, doubtless felt that, if their lives were sacrificed, 
they would be offered up, not only on the altar of their 
country, but on the altar of their God. Of their coun- 
try and their God they could truly say, "To die for her 
is serving Thee." And this feeling was not confined to 
this town. Everywhere men looked upon the war as a 
holy war. They believed that when they took their 
muskets and hastened to the conflict, they were en- 
gaged in a religious act, just as truly as when they met 
to worship God. They went into the war, feeling, as 
David had said : "The Lord is on my side; I will not 
fear ; what can man do unto me?" " Call me an enthu- 
siast," said Samuel Adams; "this union among the 
colonies, and warmth of affection, can be attributed to 
nothing less than the agency of the Supreme Being. If 
we believe that he superintends and directs the affairs 
of empires, we have reason to expect the restoration 
and establishment of the public liberties." 

Headley says: " In every quiet little valley and se- 
questered nook in New England, the pastor had taught 
the doctrines of freedom, and preached the duty of 
resistance to oppression. The farmers and mechanics 
listened with reverence and confidence to these teach- 



33 

ings, and showed their faith by their works when the 
hour of trial came. At the battle-cry that rolled over 
the land from Lexington and Concord, they shouldered 
their muskets, and went forth with the blessing of their 
pastor on their heads, and his fervent prayers for their 
success following their footsteps. They had been taught 
from the pulpit that it was the cause of God, and they 
took it up in the full belief that they had his blessing and 
his promise. If the scenes that transpired in the count- 
less villages and hamlets of New England, when the news 
of the first blood shed by British troops swept over the 
colonies, and the first uprising of the people took place, 
could be described just as they occurred, in all the 
beauty, pathos, patriotism and religion that character- 
ized them, the Revolutionary struggle would possess an 
interest that all its thrilling battles and perilous marches, 
deeply as they enlist our sympathies, can never im- 
part." The historian describes one such scene, in 
Stockbridge, at which place the news of the Lexington 
and Concord fight arrived on Sunday forenoon. Signal 
shots were immediately fired, and men who were pre- 
paring to go to the house of worship took down their 
firelocks, bid their families farewell, and hastened to the 
yard of the deacon, the appointed place of meeting. 
The old pastor came and stood among them, reading 
from his Bible, ofiering a prayer, imparting his blessing, 
and then " twenty men, with knapsacks on their backs, 
and muskets on their shoulders, started on foot for Bos- 
ton, nearly two hundred miles distant." 

So it was throughout a great part of the colonies. 
Whether men waited or not for religious services, they 
all went forth with the same spirit, — that their cause was 



34 

just because it was the cause of God. Though in the 
midst of oppression and distress, they believed that a 
blessing was awaiting the nation because the God of 
the nation was the Lord. 

A part of the text of the sermon preached in Lex- 
ington in 1779, on the anniversary of the battle, was 
" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." At the centennial 
anniversary of the incorporation of the town. Rev. Mr. 
Williams, then pastor of this society, preached a dis- 
course, with the same text : " Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped us." And now that we have come to the cen- 
tennial anniversary of the battle of Lexington, can we 
say the same thing of our nation: "Hitherto hath the 
Lord helped us?" Looking around us now, and looking 
as far into the future as possible, can we say, Blessed 
is this nation, whose God is the Lord ? Have we any 
of that old faith of our forefathers left ? Have we any 
faith that God cares for this nation, in the least ? 
Whether we have any of that faith or not, I believe we 
ought to have. It may be necessary to modify it some- 
what; but there is a faith in national dependence upon 
God which no nation should be without. I am aware 
that men with little or no religious spirit may say that 
such a faith was an illusion with our forefathers ; and 
they may add that it was also an illusion with the Jews, 
who, although firmly believing that the God of their 
nation was the Lord, and that their nation was to be 
blessed on that account, yet saw their nation, as a 
nation, utterly destroyed. If those words are true, 
" Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," why 
was it, they will ask, that there was such a sad end to 
the Jewish nation, which, before all other nations, 



35 

claimed to recognize the Lord as its God ? The answer 
to that question will lead us to the true faith of 
national dependence upon God. 

The Jews were fond of calling themselves the chosen 
people of God ; but they forgot in the later period of 
their history that there could be a nation chosen by 
God in any abiti'ary manner. They forgot that there 
could be any chosen people of God, except as they 
obeyed the commandments of God ; they forgot the 
words which Moses had spoken to the nation : " The 
Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people 
unto himself. Thou shalt, therefore, keep the com- 
mandments and the statutes, and the judgments which 
I command thee this day. Wherefore it shall come to 
pass if ye keep and do them, that the Lord thy god 
will love thee and bless thee, and thou shalt be blessed 
above all people. But it shall be, if thou do at all 
forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods, 
and serve them and worship them, I testify against 
you this day, that ye shall surel}'- perish." That is the 
faith of national dependence upon God that Moses 
taught. 

It was the same theory of national dependence upon 
God that the prophet Jeremiah taught the stubborn Jews 
in the parable of "The Potter." "I went down to the 
potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the 
wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred 
in the hands of the potter ; so he made it again another 
vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then 
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, house of 
Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the 
Lord. Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so 



36 

are ye in mine hands, house of Israel," That does 
not mean that God governs the nations arbitrarily, but 
rather in accordance with certain laws. As F. W. 
Maurice said : " When Jeremiah was sent to study the 
potter's work, he was sent to ascertain, not what the 
potter might do if he liked, but what he liked. He 
desired to make a vessel of a certain form. That was 
the end for which he labored. If there is any force or 
worth in the analogy at all, it must mean that there is a 
form according to which God is seeking to mould men 
and nations. It must imply that he is not doing any 
single act arbitrarily, or without reference to a purpose ; 
it must imply that he is patiently, continually working 
for the accomplishment of this purpose ; and ifthey do not 
submit to this process, if they persist in not taking the 
mould which he would give them, then the clay is 
broken that it may be re-formed, that the original intent 
of the owner may still be carried out." 

John the Baptist taught the same doctrine to the 
Pharisees and Sadducees : "Think not to say within 
yourselves, we have Abraham to our father ; for I say 
unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up 
children unto Abraliam." And to the hardened Jews 
who resisted the truth, but said, " Abraham is our 
fatlier," the Saviour taught the same doctrine : " If ye 
were Abraham's children ye would do the works of 
Abraham." But the teachings of patriarch, prophet, 
and of the Saviour could avail nothing. The recogni- 
nition of the Lord as their God was only in name with 
the Jews. There was no reality in it.. And the sins 
of that people led, by direct laws, established by God, 
to destruction. 



37 

In the hands of God are all the nations of the earth. 
There may be a chosen nation now, just as truly as 
there ever was. But the chosen nation is the nation 
which keeps the divine laws, and obeys the divine com- 
mands. " Blessed is the nation whose God is the 
Lord ; '^ not in name, merely, but in truth. And God 
blesses nations for obedience, not arbitrarily, as you 
reward a boy for doing an errand. But the laws of God 
are such that national strength is the result of obedi- 
ence, and national weakness is the result of disobedience. 
It is possible to trace the connection between the im- 
morality, the disobedience of the commands of God of 
some of the ancient nations, and the weakness which 
resulted in their downfall. It is sometimes said of 
nations that they have their period of rising, and their 
period of degeneration and overthrow, as if it were an 
invariable rule. But if it seem so, it is because there 
never has been a nation capable of resisting the tempta- 
tions of prosperity. "Righteousness," it is said, 
"exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
So long as a nation keeps in the path of righteousness, 
so long it will be blessed by God, so long will it have 
strength to remain a nation. I do not mean that 
righteousness alone will maintain a place for any people 
among the nations of the earth. There are other requi- 
sites for national existence than righteousness, or 
obedience of divine laws. But when all these requisites 
exist in a nation, righteousness will tend to strengthen 
and perpetuate it, and unrighteousness will tend to 
weaken and overthrow it. 

If we ask ourselves, what will be the future of our coun- 
try, let us remember that we are not a chosen people 



or a favored nation now, because we had the Pilgrims 
and the Puritans for our fathers. We can see how 
their virtues made them strong, and how the virtues 
of the colonists, a century ago, also made them strong. 
But unless wo also have their virtues, we can not rely 
upon our ancestors for our national strength to-day. If 
there is anything which threatens the overthrow of this 
nation to-day, if there is anything at which thoughtful 
men may feel alarmed, it is the neglect of some of those 
stern virtues of our fathers which we affect to despise. 
I do not wish to see church and state united as it was 
with the Puritans. Their religious test was a failure, 
so far as keeping bad men out of office was concerned. 
But never was there a time when we could see plainer 
than now, that our continued prosperity depends on 
placing men in office possessing the principles which 
Christianity inculcates. When a foreigner can write 
about us as Strauss, the German, has written, it is time 
for us to try and see ourselves as others see us. "The 
air of the United States," he says, "is infected by a 
corruption of its leading classes, only to be paralleled in 
the most abandoned parts of Europe. The practice in 
their presidential elections, the inevitable corruption 
following in their wake, the necessity of rewarding the 
accomplices by giving them places, and then of winking 
at the delinquencies of their administration, the venality 
and corruption which are thus engendered in the ruling 
circles, — all these deep-lying evils of the much-vaunted 
republic have been brought into such glaring promi- 
nence within the last few years, that the eagerness of 
German orators, newspapers, writers, and poets, to go in 
search of their political, and even moral ideals to the 



39 

other side of the Atlantic Ocean, has suffered consider- 
able abatement." We may pretend to despise all such 
foreign criticism as that, but we cannot deny that there 
is a vein of truth in it. And we may be sure that when 
we cease to be an ideal example for every individual in 
all nations who is looking toward freedom, we have 
not only ceased to perform one of our most important 
missions, but we are losing that element of grandeur 
and of strength which has hitherto given us an exalted 
place among the nations of the earth. 

But although there is evidently danger in this direc- 
tion, I cannot despair of the final result. Although there 
are thousands of politicians who think that trickery and 
bribery, and corruption, so long as they aid their party, 
are pei-fectly innocent, still there are others, who know 
that these things are sapping the foundations of the 
government. And there is no small amount of the spirit 
of the Pilgrims and Puritans and colonists still remaining 
among us, which holds that disobedience of the laws of 
God will work injury to the nation. That spirit is patient 
and long-suffering under distress and oppression ; but if 
national evils continue to increase, that spirit will ere 
long prompt men to join hands and drive corrupt politi- 
cians from the goveri;ment, as it inspired men a century 
ago to band together, and drive the British from 
America. It looks now as if, before long, party plat- 
forms will be plaiicd down, till nothing remains but 
questions of truth, honesty and purity ; and when it 
comes to that, there is no doubt where the religious 
spirit of our forefathers will force the majority to stand. 
It is true, perhaps, that there is less outward observance 
of religion than there was with our forefathers ; but the 



40 

religious spirit still remains, and the blessings which it 
prompted them to struggle for a century ago, it will 
not now allow corrupt politicians to destroy. 

The celebration of this series of centennial anniversa- 
ries, which is about to begin, will but poorly honor the 
men who shed their blood on yonder Green, and those 
who followed them in their act of sacrifice, in all the 
colonies, if it ends with the noise of cannons, the roll of 
drums, and eloquent words. Unless it incites us to be 
more watchful of the blessings for which they gave their 
lives, more watchful against every foe, it seems as if 
their sleeping dust must cry out shame ! We would 
call ourselves unworthy descendants of tliem, if without 
resistance we allowed a foreign enemy to deprive us of 
the liberty which they obtained. Are we any less un- 
worthy if we allow the dishonesty and corruption of 
politicians to undermine the foundation of what the}' 
established ? This celebration will be unworthy of this 
people unless it leads us to honor the virtues of our 
forefathers, and inspires us with more of that spirit of 
dependence upon God, as a nation, which they pos- 
sessed ; unless it leads us to make the Lord the God of 
our nation, through obedience of his laws. It will not 
be enough to place the name God in the constitution, 
for that would be oidy like the Jews, careful fur the 
name of God, but careless about his spirit in the heart. 
The poet has said of the Ship of State, the Union : 

" We know what anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
In what a forge and what ri heat 
"Were shaped the anchoi's of thy hope." 

We have seen that those anchors of hope came from the 



41 

forge of the church, and the heat of religious enthusiasm ; 
and the more we make our anchor of hope now that reli- 
gion which consists in obedience of the laws of God, the 
more certain shall we be that the next century of our 
national existence will be brighter than the past. 



42 



A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 25th, 1815. 



EXODUS XII, 14. 

" This Day shall be unto you rou a Memorial ; ye 

SHALL keep it A FeAST I5Y AN ORDINANCE FOREVER." . 

It has been a common custom among all nations to 
perpetuate the remembrance of heroic men and heroic 
deeds by some kind of memorial. The forms of heroic 
men have been carved in marble, or cast in metal ; and the 
accounts of heroic deeds have been inscribed on the 
same enduring substances. The cities of Athens and 
Rome were noted for the great number of such memori- 
als which they contained. In the early history of the 
Jews, we find accounts of this same custom, although 
observed in a much ruder manner. Jacob, after he had 
dreamed of the ladder with the angels ascending and 
descending, " rose up early in the morning," it is said, 
" and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and 
set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." 
When the children of Israel passed through the river 
Jordan, Joshua commanded twelve men, one man out 
of each of the twelve tribes, to take each a stone from 
the bed of the river, and carry them to the land, and 
place them together, " that this," he said, " may be a 
sign among you, that when your children ask their 
fathers in time to come, saying, what mean j'^e by these 
stones, then ye shall answer them, ' That the waters of 
Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of 



43 

the Lord, and those stones shall be for a memorial unto 
the children of Israel for ever.' " In the same way the 
service of the passover was to be annually a memorial 
of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. 
" This day/' said Moses, " shall be unto you for a me- 
morial ; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for 
ever. And when your children shall say unto you, 
what mean you by this service ; ye shall say, ' It is the 
sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the 
houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he 
smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.' " 

No one can doubt that such memorials, whether ex- 
pressed in metal or stone, or in the observance of a day, 
serve a very important purpose in the life of a nation. 
They keep alive the memory of those who labored and 
suffered for the nation ; they keep fresh in the thoughts 
the heroic deeds of the past, all of which tends to in- 
crease the spirit of patriotism in the hearts of the 
people. So long as the people of a nation cherish the 
memory of its founders and sustainers, no danger can 
threaten the existence of the nation, without arousing 
multitudes for national defence. The Jews were care- 
ful to observe the passover, the memorial of their 
deliverance from Egypt ; and although they were finally 
conquered, and destroyed as a nation, yet there is no 
doubt that the custom which still remains wherever a 
remnant of them can be found, of observing this annual 
memorial feast, serves to keep them distinct from every 
other nation, although they are scattered over every 
part of the world. 

Our annual celebration of the declaration of American 
Independence has been of immense value to this nation. 



u 

We are apt to smile at the noisy demonstrations and 
exultant orations of the Fourth of July ; but although 
we may be a little critical of the manner in which the 
day is observed, this nation can not well afford to dis- 
pense with the celebration of that important event in our 
history. As the Jewish children asked concerning the 
observance of the passover, "What mean ye by this 
service ? " so have the children in this country asked 
the same concerning this annual celebration, and they 
have learned its meaning ; and its noise and tumult have 
made an impression on every boy's heart. That readi- 
ness with which men in every part of the land, in 1861, 
answered the call to take up arms in defence of our 
national existence had its foundation in Fourth-of-July 
celebrations. May the time never come when the day 
will cease to be observed in some appropriate manner. 
When the Fourth of July ceases to be an exceptional 
day in our national calendar, we may begin to tremble 
at the fate of our nation. 

The events which occurred in this town, and of which 
we have just celebrated the centennial anniversary, 
were not unlike, in spirit at least, the event which 
Moses commanded the Jews to observe by a memorial 
day. With the Jews, it was their departure from the 
territory of a nation who held them as slaves ; on the 
nineteenth of April, 1775, began that series of events 
which resulted in driving from this land those who 
were endeavoring to make slaves of the colonists. And 
if there were any good reason why that day should be 
unto the Jews for a memorial, why it should be kept a 
feast by an ordinance for ever, there is equally good 
reason why the uineteentli of April should be unto our 



45 

nation for a memorial, and should be kept a feast by an 
ordinance forever. If we. have had doubts of this here- 
tofore, I think the celebration which has occm-red during 
the past week has laid all such doubts at rest. 

There may have been some persons who thought that 
the significance of this celebration was greatly magni- 
fied in the eyes of the citizens of Lexington. But 
looking back upon it now, we know very well that our 
ideas of its importance and significance did not exceed 
similar ideas which were entertained in every part of 
this country. Very few of us, I think, fully realized 
what a great manifestation of interest in the day would 
be exhibited. From every part of this country we 
have had evidence that there was a deep interest in the 
observance of the day, and that the day was observed 
not only in this and our neighboring town, but in many 
other towns of this Commonwealth, and in many States 
of the Union. So large a concourse of people as 
assembled here last Monday, hardl}' any one of the 
most sanguine of our citizens expected to see. And 
when we remember that half as many more tried in vain 
to reach Lexington on that day, we must feel that such 
a manifestation of interest in any patriotic occasion has 
seldom been surpassed. The character and conduct of 
the crowd was also equally remarkable. A very small 
proportion of the number who participated in the cele- 
bration, or who endeavored so to do, was composed of 
the element termed rowdy. Very few indeed seemed 
drawn hither merely to see or form a part of a crowd. 
There were men of every profession, business, and 
occupation, apparently drawn hither from real interest 
in the event which was commemorated. Rev. Dr. Bel- 



46 

lows, who was unable to get any farthei* on his way to 
Lexington than Boston, and who returned to New York, 
as he says, " baflled and sorely disappointed in the object 
of his patriotic journey," also says that he was "partly 
repaid by the immense exhibition of interest and zeal 
in the occasion which the crowd displayed." And I 
think this must be especially gratifying to every one 
who either saw or heard of it. Last Monday was the 
beginning of a scries of centennial anniversaries which 
are to be observed during the coming period of eight 
years. An'd the great interest displayed in this first 
anniversary of the series shows with what deep interest 
and reverence the American people regard the struggle 
which our forefathers endured, in order to establish this 
nation upon the solid foundation of political and reli- 
gious liberty. In February, 1775, both houses of the 
English Parliament joined in an address to the king, 
declaring that a rebellion existed in Massachusetts, and 
pledging their lives and properties to its suppression. 
During the discussion which took place upon that 
address, John Wilkes said : " Who can tell whether, in 
consequence of this day's violent and mad address, the 
scabbard may not be thrown away by the Americans as 
well as by us ; and, should success attend thera, whether, 
in a few years, the Americans may not celebrate tlie 
glorious era of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of 
1688 ? " Ilis words proved to be the words of a true 
propli(;t; and now, after a century has passed awa}^, the 
American people have entered upon the celebration of 
that "glorious era" with renewed interest and zeal, 
giving evidence not only of the lienor which is felt to 
be due to the men of that era, but also of the value 



47 

which is attached to what, by their labors, by their 
struggles, and by their sacrifices, they obtained. 

But besides this manifestation of patriotism which 
the celebration of the anniversary of the battle of Lex- 
ington and Concord has produced, and that which will 
be shown on the anniversaries which are to follow, 
there is another thing which it seems to me every per- 
son must feel will result therefrom ; and that is, the 
strengthening of that bond of political union among the 
different States which has, of late years, suffered so 
severe a strain. Very few, after our late domestic 
struggle, could say of it what Longfellow said before : 

" 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, 
And not a rent made by the gale ! " 

It was a rent, and a very serious one ; and since the 
rent has been repaired, it has been the earnest wish of 
every lover of his country to see all traces of it removed, 
and the old feeling of union replaced, as strong and firm 
as ever. Can any one doubt that the celebration of 
these centennial anniversaries, which have been so 
auspiciously begun, and in which men from every State 
in the Union will join, will tend to strengthen that old 
feeling of unity which has been so seriously disturbed ? 
Will it be possible for men from every part of this 
country to meet together in order to honor the men who 
one hundred years ago laid the foundation of this 
Union, without being more deeply impressed with the 
value of what our "forefathers established ? As pilgrims 
from the South and pilgrims from the North meet 
together in places made sacred by the deliberations or 
sacrifices of our forefathers, the clasping of their hands 



48 

must bo a true symbol of the renewed feeling of union 
with which they will return to their homes. 

A poet has told the story of a husband and wife, after 
long years of wilful separation, meeting at the grave of 
their child, where memories of former days of love and 
happiness came thronging upon them, and there they 
pledged anew their mutual faith and trust in each other. 
When North and South meet at such places as Lexing- 
ton, Concord, Bunker Hill, Philadelphia, Trenton, 
Princetown, Eutaw, and Yorktown, to honor the dead, 
in whom both North and South have a mutual interest, 
the thronging memories connected with these places 
must revive, to a great degree, the old feeling of union, 
and make them again regard themselves as "one and 
inseparable." Therefore, when I think of the proceed- 
ings of last Monday, and ask myself what was the 
grandest part of those exercises, I pass by that grand 
procession. 1 say, not those eloquent introductory 
words of the president of the day ; not that thrilling 
scene of the unveiling of the statues of the patriots, 
Adams and Hancock ; not that eloquent, beautiful and 
masterly oration, but the last part of the speech of the 
Governor of South Carolina. If the celebration had 
accomplished nothing more than the bringing of the 
Governor of South Carolina to give utterance to those 
words on the soil of Lexington, it would have been a 
grand success. It was a part of the day's exercises 
which I was unfortunate enough not to hear, and it has 
been difficult for me to road it since without feeling 
tears of joy starting in my eyes. The words of which I 
speak are these : 

" I know that I am commissioned here to-day to say 



49 

for South Carolina that she joins with equal gratitude 
and reverence with all her sisters of the early days in 
honoring the nineteenth of April, 1775 ; that she claims 
her share in the glory of the struggle begun at Lexing- 
ton ; that as of old she bade Massachusetts cheer in the 
struggle, so now she unites with her in these patriotic 
services. 

" It is not for me, it is not for any one, on this occa- 
sion, to speak of later events in which these two ancient 
allies stood face to face as enemies. Who that has an 
American heart does not rejoice that, back of all the 
recent bitter struggle, there lies the gracious heritage 
of those common labors and dangers and sacrifices in 
founding this common government ? Who that looks 
with a just eye even on that recent struggle does not 
now see, on either side, the same high elements of 
character, the courage, the devotion to duty, the moral 
lineaments of the Adamses and Hancocks, the Gadsdens 
and Rutledges of a hundred years ago ? Who that has 
faith in the destinies of America does not see in this 
early friendship, — aye, and even in this later conflict, 
the potency and promise of that coming Union under 
whose protection liberty shall forever walk hand in hand 
with justice, wherein the North and the South, reunited 
in spirit and aims, shall again respond to every call of 
patriotic duty in the old tones of Samuel Adams and 
Christopher Gadsden, of James Otis and John Rutledge ? 

"That spirit still lives, fellow-citizens, in South 
Carolina. If in later days she has erred, forgive her ; 
for even then she dared and sufi'ered with a courage and 
patience not unworthy in its strength of the days when 
Gadsden and Rutledge illustrated her civic wisdom, and 



50 

Sumter and Marion her martial prowess. ' Magnanim- 
ity/ says Mr. Burke, 'is not seldom the truest wisdom; 
and a great empire and little minds go ill together.' 

"Fellow-citizens, I offer you to-day the fraternal, 
patriotic greetings of South Carolina — of aZHier people. 
She marches again to-day to the music of that Union 
which a hundred years ago her wisdom helped to de- 
vise and her blood to cement. There, in that hallowed 
Union, endeared and sanctified by so many blessed 
memories, and radiant with so many proud hopes and 
promises, there, there 'she must live or bear no life.' 
Oh, welcome her anew to day to the old fellowsliip ! 
The monuments of marble and brass which we raise 
here to-day will crumble. Let us, therefore, build in 
the hearts of all the people that imperishable monument, 
'an indestructible Union of indestructible States.'" 

Let such words find an echo at every centennial cele- 
bration which is to follow during the next eight j'cars, 
and tliese celebrations will cfiect almost as much of 
good as did the war which they are intended to com- 
memorate. Let the spirit of those words prevail at 
these centennials, and it seems impossible that it should 
not; and then, when in 1883 we celebrate the centen- 
nial anniversary of the signing of a treaty of peace 
between Great Britian and the Uftited States, we shall 
also celebrate the re-union, both in word and spirit, of 
the nation. Then will every State again join in the 
words of the poet : 

"Tliou, too, .sail on, Oh Ship of State! 
Sail on, Oh Union, strono; and gi'eat! 
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 
Our hearts, our hopes, arc all witli thee. 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
Arc all with thee, — are all with thee!" 



51 

I have mentioned these two things first, — this manifes- 
tation of the patriotic spirit, and the probable strength- 
ening of the feeling of union, as results of this and the 
following centennial celebrations, — because they are of 
the greatest importance, being national in their charac- 
ter. But there is something which the recent surprising 
manifestation of interest in our centennial anniversary 
should teach us as citizens of this town. It is this : that 
the citizens of this historic town have a duty to perform 
on account of the interest which centres here. The 
whole country, as we have seen, feels an interest in the 
associations and memories which cluster around this 
place. Those who live in the town are the guardians 
of that interest. The man who stays in this town, and 
takes no interest in the associations and memories of the 
place, is not worthy to be called a citizen of Lexington. 
He is no citizen of the town. As guardians of the 
national interest in Lexington, it is our duty to preserve 
and increase that interest, not for the honor of the 
town, but for the benefit of the nation. The deeper 
and wider the interest in the associations and memories 
of this place, the deeper and wider is the spirit of pa- 
triotism. The way to perform the duty which we owe 
to the country, as citizens of Lexington, is not to heed 
the advice which some editor, during the past week, 
has been obliging enough to give to both Lexington 
and Concord; that is, " turn over and take another nap 
of a hundred years." We ought to do just the opposite 
to that; we ought to keep awake to the national inter- 
est in, and historic character of, the town. One way to 
do this, is never to let the nineteenth of April pass 
without some observance of the day. We who have 



52 

witnessed this celebration will never witness another 
like it. But the exceptional character of this celebra- 
tion should not prevent our taking- some notice of the 
day every year. Let there be, at least, the national 
banner displayed on every house, and such other simple 
observance as will be inexpensive, and at the same time 
aflfording pleasure. Such a yearly celebration will not 
only strengthen the spirit of patriotism in this town, 
but all over the land. The news of such an observance 
would go from one end of the land to the other, and 
children would ask what is meant by it, and thus learn 
the story, and take in the spirit of the day. 

Another way to perform our duty is to preserve the 
historic character of the town in its outward appear- 
ance. The names of the streets should be historic. 
They should be such that a stranger losing his way and 
coming into this village would know from the names 
on the sign-boards that he must be in Lexington, and 
could not possibly be any where else. And we may 
keep the historic character of the town, outwardly, by 
preserving the old historic houses. If it be necessary, 
let there be an association formed for this purpose. 
People are always interested in old houses. Some one 
told me, last Monday, that the most eloquent motto was 
on the house just below here : " A witness of the battle 
one hundred years ago." One of the great objects of 
interest to visitors will always be the old houses which 
stood here witnesses of the battle. Let us see that they 
are preserved, so that they may speak to every stranger 
visitor, eloquently, although silently, of the spirit of 
the men of 1715. 

Another way to do our duty in this historic town is 



53 

to preserve all the relics which illustrate in any way its 
history. Such things are also eloquent and interesting 
teachers of the past. One newspaper correspondent 
who was in Lexington last Monday says, "I for one 
enjoy seeing an old foot-stove, with which a venerable 
dame, a hundred years ago, mitigated the severity of 
a winter atmosphere in the meeting-house, or the blanket 
in which Sam Adams was christened, more than the 
military display, or the President and his Cabinet." 
Such relics are of interest to most people, and they 
are a real source of patriotic inspiration. Let that 
part of the collection in our library which has been 
given to the town, be increased till it shall come to be 
such a collection as every lover of antiquities will never 
visit Boston without coming to Lexington to see. In 
such ways as these, and in others which may suggest 
themselves, let us prove to the country that we are not 
asleep, but awake to the historic and patriotic interest 
in our town. 

Of the seven men of Lexington who were killed on 
the green, on the morning of the nineteenth of April, 
1765, Bancroft says : " Their names are held in grate- 
ful remembrance, and the expanding millions of their 
countrymen renew and multiply their praise from gen- 
eration, to generation,'' and his words during the past 
week have been proved true. Let us remember that it 
is the duty of the citizens of this town to do what they 
can to keep alive the memories of those men, not for 
the honor of Lexington, not solely for their honor, but 
for the good of our nation, to establish which on the 
firm foundation of liberty they sacrificed their lives. 



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